23 de nov de 2014

A surge in the number of deadly Legionnaires' disease cases has health authorities worried.

The disease killed top chef Ross Burden in July and there were ten cases during October and November at Christchurch Hospital.

Mr Burden, 45, was a popular television personality in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, where he worked with top chef Ainsley Harriott.

Mr Burden's mother Jude Harwood has laid a complaint after her son died at Auckland Hospital, Fairfax reported today.

The chef was previously reported to have died of cancer. He was receiving treatment for leukaemia, although there was social media chatter in July that Legionnaires' killed him.

Mr Burden had breathed in Legionella bacteria present in Auckland Hospital's hot water system, according to an interim coroner's report the Sunday Star-Times cited.

The disease is a severe form of pneumonia. Nine of the Christchurch patients said they were gardening or exposed to compost or potting mix before contracting the illness.

Canterbury District Health Board described the ten cases as a "surge" and warned the Legionella bacterium was commonly found in soil, potting mix or compost.

"It thrives in warm, moist conditions and becomes dangerous when dust or droplets from one of these products infected with Legionella bacteria is inhaled. It can then cause a severe, even fatal disease," the health board said.

Dr Alistair Humphrey, Canterbury Medical Officer of Health, warned people ahead of what could be a busy, and "potentially risky" weekend in the garden.